Last year I dug out an old nandina bamboo from a home undergoing construction. Nandina are seldom seen as bonsai. Trifoliate leaves and small trunks leave little to be desired. Atypical of most nandinas this specimen boasted thick corky bark and a sizable trunk. The reliable display of fall color in a Mediterranean climate SoCal was icing on the cake.
Earlier in the year I brought the tree to a Will Baddeley workshop seen here. Over the summer the tree has grown extremely well. I thinned out unnecessary shoots only leaving ones to be developed as future primary branching. Branching is difficult to develop on nandinas due to their growth habit and trifoliate leaves.
New growth is sent out as a stalk with leaf petioles wrapped around it. Internodes can easily run long here so I would not fertilize until growth has hardened. This stalk eventually lignifies and in…
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